Our Weekly Update

Sign Installed this Wednesday.

Reflecting back & looking forward

Closing Psalm 15; Entering Daniel Chapter Nine

Good morning, Highland! Update’s a little later than usual this week. Took a little more time to write this one. Over the last two Sundays, we have had Carrie and Casey do such a wonderful job of leading us through Communal Prayer. This Psalm has been our “script” as we have started 2024. These attributes have highlighted fruits of a people who have yielded to the holy name the Almighty God! May these fruits abound in us, Highland. This Sunday, we bring this heart-study of Psalm 15 to a close – “He who does these things shall not be moved.” As we begin chapter nine of Daniel, we see a man who prays, entrusting the Lord in a way that makes him immovable! Though he’s uncertain about so many circumstances, his faithfulness to seek the Lord causes his heart to rest confidently in the Lord, in spite of any set of circumstances! How I love to see this immovabie heart the Lord’s Spirit has formed in Daniel, Highland! It’s his prayer life that is his source of strength.

Our Sermon-Study

Drawing From Daniel

Finding Our Hope in the Holiness of God

Our church services (we call services “Firehouse Gatherings”) are held each Sunday morning at 10am in the Firehouse (3402 6th Ave). All are welcome to attend. There is no climate control, so dress suitably for the weather conditions. Also, you may want to bring a camping chair, as we do not always have enough seats available.

We covered the eighth chapter of Daniel last Sunday. We covered the vision and the interpretation. Then, we took the time to draw from Daniel about how he responded to the overwhelming vision. He was grief-stricken! We then were able to pull these three points from the text for our application:

 

  1. Hope in the Lord is an Eternal Hope; Even Richer Than Hope For our Future

We all have hope that the future will get better. That’s good, right and healthy. We should! Yet, this vision Daniel receives from the Lord is riddled with the reality that the world is only going to get darker. Days ahead are continually plagued with evil, as we live.

Daniel’s hope, now, is not in knowing that one day things will get better. In a more profound way than ever before, Daniel’s only hope is in the holiness of God. Not, in the holiness of God and – ‘things get better’, ‘this will end’ — (fill in the blank). Instead, he has resigned to be found solely in being held up by the holiness of God, eternally. In short, it’s the presence of the Lord that even makes all the bad days better.

Daniel’s faithfulness results in a freedom from worry over what’s to come or a sense of desperation over getting to the next season. What we draw from Daniel is that the Spirit of God sets our hearts free to abide in the Lord, taking what comes in stride with His Spirit’s leading. The end-goal is Him. Being fully at rest, made whole, in His presence. In light of this, striving for “better” is seen as frivolous, in comparison to the daily and simple pursuit of the Lord, who is our all in all. The outcome is that we enjoy the fullness of His presence, come what may, because, in the end, we are His forevermore.

Daniel resonates now with David who writes in Psalm 16:

“Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure. For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption. You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”

 

2. Hope in the Lord is Beyond a Hope for Better Circumstances

(For us & For Daniel)

Furthermore, Daniel’s vision was from the Lord – so, how does Daniel pray for the circumstances in his life? How does he ask that the Lord to take it all the bad circumstances away and, yet, relate to the Creator of heaven and earth when the very vision Daniel’s received from heaven has haunted him? Daniels realizes that his life belongs to Him.

We draw from Daniel that, whatever comes, as long as He is with us, we are secure because He, alone, is good and is faithful. Moses resonates with this statement: And he said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” And Moses said to him, “If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here” (Exodus 33:14-15). Hope is found in the presence of the Lord.

 

3. Daniel Experienced Anxiety & Grief

(But didn’t take up identity there)

Finally, as Daniel is so resolved in walking with the Lord, notice he speaks to his own anxiety and grief so transparently. Part of our Christian-culture today does not offer permission to experience grief and anxiety, as we walk with the Lord. It can be considered contradictory to being Christian. Daniel experiences it and writes about it, too. So, that notion is debunked here in God’s Word.

Now, notice that it’s the eruption of evil and depravity of mankind that has the wind knocked out of him. He also notes that he does not take up his identity in his anxiety, but that he remained still before the Lord, as he was sick, then kept on with his work. He entrusted the Lord to fortify his heart and mind, as he continued in his work – and the Lord proved faithful! He will do the same for us, Highland!

Daniel enjoyed the fruitfulness of being dedicated to the Lord and to his work, resting in the fact that he was secure in the love of His Lord through it all! Again, we break open chapter nine this week. We get to be in the room with Daniel, as he prays! What a treasure this portion of Scripture is to us! See you tomorrow, Highland.

I love you,

Rob

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